OxCrimes edited by Mark Ellingham and Peter Florence

The Blurb On The Back:

27 killer stories from the cream of crime writers.

OxCrimes - like its predecessors OxTales and OxTravels - is a very simple idea. We asked the best crime writers based in Britain, and a few further afield, for a story. There were no rules. We just wanted compelling stories that we knew their regular readers would have to read … and so would need to buy this book. And why so calculating? That’s simple, too. The purpose of OxCrimes is to entertain and, in doing so, to raise funds for Oxfam’s work. All of the authors have donated their royalties to the charity.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Mark Ellingham and Peter Florence invited 27 crime writers to submit an original short story to this collection. Ian Rankin provides the introduction, there’s an afterword by Oxfam’s CEO Mark Goldring and all royalties going in support of Oxfam. The collection is a good one without any really duff stories within it and I really enjoyed the variety of styles and stories on display.

Dream-Songs: A Retrospective Book 1 by George R. R. Martin

The Blurb On The Back:

George R. R. Martin is one of the most exciting storytellers of our time, a stylish, elegant writer who combines riveting plots with superb characterisation. He writes with equal verve and fervour about werewolves as he does spaceships, wizards and vampires, and he has won virtually every award in the fields of fantasy literature. His epic ongoing saga A Song of Ice and Fire has almost redefined fantasy for a whole new generation, and won him a vast, devoted audience.

Dreamsongs Book One is the first part of a massive collection, featuring the very best of George R. R. Martin’s short fiction, a dazzling array of award-winning stories from the last thirtysome years.

Dreamsongs is a treasure chest of stories, indispensible volumes not just for all George R. R. Martin fans, but essential reading for any reader of fantastic literature.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

As someone new to Martin’s work, I was surprised at the amount of SF in here but on the whole I enjoyed the stories offered up and think it’s very brave of him to include his earliest, least polished work because it shows how he progressed. I have to confess though that I found the short introductory sections written by Martin to be the most interesting part of the book because that’s where he talks about his background and his influences and the history behind the selected stories, which adds a lot more to the reading experience. On the basis of this book, I would definitely check out Martin’s other work and am kicking myself for having left it so long to do so.